Consuming Passions
Today's advertising execs and their big- business clients
are betting that consumers will buy products made by companies
that support social causes. Are the ads just talk, or
is there substance behind the slogans? By Dan Bischoff

FIRST
PERSON:
Aunt Jemima in the Mirror
TECHNO.FEM:
What's a Hacktivist?

SHE
SAYS:
The Body Shop's Anita Roddick

ARTS:
Shirin Neshat Sees Beyond the Veil

COLUMNS
by Daisy Hernandez, Patricia Smith, and Gloria Steinem

NO
COMMENT

SEX
AND POWER:Is
the feminist movement stuck in mid-revolution? According
to this well-known lawyer and activist the answer is
yes. Now it's time to move on and harness our power.

Beholdthe
EROS-CTD. It looks like an ergonomic mouse, but it's
supposedly the latest breakthrough in treating something
called Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD). Erotic,
isn't it? The "mouse" is actually a vacuum pump. Plug
your clitoris into the rubber socket, and EROS allegedly
increases blood flow, causing arousal and, presumably,
orgasm. But don't look for the $359 gizmo at your local
pussycat palace; you'll need a doctor's prescription.
A newly coined term, FSAD describes physically based
sexual dysfunction. But think of it as the global warming
of modern medicineexperts can't agree whether
the condition exists or not. One researcher said: "If
it is effective, this device only demonstrates that
most of women's sexual problems are due to lack of adequate
stimulation. EROS is a complicated, expensive vibrator"-never
mind a disgrace to its namesake (would the Greek god
of all things sensual pick beige?). And it may not even
be a breakthrough. "The only new thing is the price
tag," says sexologist Leonore Tiefer, who notes that
women have used special attachments for penis pumps
to achieve the same effect. So if EROS is more of a
reinvention, and if its evolution resembles the vibrator's-also
first touted as a medical solution-you'll soon be able
to get one even if you're not "dysfunctional."